COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio small business owners and retirees offered differing ideas during a special congressional committee meeting here to talk about how Congress should save multi-employer pension plans at risk of failure.

Ohio Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman co-chaired the Friday meeting and heard from six Ohioans who all agreed action needs to happen soon to protect multi-employer pension funds.

The pension funds cover 1.3 million retirees, including 60,000 in Ohio, and more than 5,000 employers. They're backed by a federal agency, the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., and would then cost taxpayers billions to prop up if they go under. One of the largest at-risk funds is the Teamsters Central States Fund, and nearly 48,000 of the 400,000 members are in Ohio.

Portman, a Republican, said the current structure of the plans is not working and is going to result in fewer jobs, lower paychecks and more pressure for active workers.

"This is unfair to everybody and was never meant to be this way, and if we don't fix it, it's going to be more unfair," Portman said.

But Portman said he'd heard concerns about a government bailout from constituents with their own retirement plan struggles.

"Retirees who are at risk are taxpayers, too, but let's be honest -- 99 percent of the taxpayers asked to contribute something to this are not in those protected plans," Portman said.

David Gardner, CEO of Alfred Nickles Bakery in Navarre, suggested legislators change laws that prevent businesses like his from freezing union pension plans, opting out of multi-employer pension plans without triggering unfunded pension liability or switching to 401(k) retirement plans. The company contributes to five multi-employer pension funds and carries an unfunded pension liability of $281 million.

Gardner said pension costs have contributed to his company's loss of 461 employees over the past 10 years.

"Every day we try to figure out ways to cut costs rather than invest in our business and grow our business and that is what we would like to do with the money we're spending for increased pension costs," Gardner said.

Bill Martin, president of Spangler Candy Company in Bryan, favors a low-interest federal loan program of some kind. Martin also favored "additional tools" to provide retirement benefits that are stable or portable.

"Given the enormity of the problem, I believe sacrifices may be needed to stabilize these plans," Martin said.

"I'll look at any proposal that conservatives put out, that liberals put out," Brown told reporters before the hearing. "I just want to see this fixed."

Mike Walden, president of the National United Committee to Protect Pensions and a Cuyahoga Falls resident, said failing to save the plans would have a catastrophic trickle-down effect. Walden said pensioners would no longer be able to pay their bills, support family members or buy groceries.

"We will not get rich off our pensions -- our pension income goes right back into the economy," Walden said.